Bounty Hunting

“Bounty hunting is a decades old profession that is legal only in the United States and the Republic of the Philippines,” writes Heath Hamacher of GwinnettDailyPost.com in this story. As Hamacher also observes, bounty hunters “are not exempt from criminal charges, either, and stories of excessive force and false arrests are not uncommon. Without the legal protection afforded to law enforcement personnel against injuries, bounty hunters have to be extra careful.” This is so true.

Several years ago, I represented a bounty hunter who found himself facing criminal charges. To simplify the issue, let’s just say that my client, Mr. Perkins, apprehended a bail jumper without obtaining the local sheriff’s permission. Which lead to state criminal charges against Mr. Perkins. I failed to convince the solicitor that charging Mr. Perkins violated his due-process rights. More unfortunate, the trial judge agreed with the solicitor. Luckily for Mr. Perkins, the Georgia Supreme Court agreed with me. See Perkins v. State, 277 Ga. 323 (2003).

This article features AA Professional Bail Bonding and its owner, Charles Shaw. I have advised Mr. Shaw and his companies on different matters. No one, and I mean no one, knows more about the laws surrounding bail recovery than Mr. Shaw – who’s a super guy to boot.